Franklin f



(No Model.)

E', F. KNOUS.

MAGAZINE HRB ABM.

Patented. Feb. 22, 1887.

- this specitication, and represent, iti- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN F. KNOUS, OF HARTFORD, CONN., ASSIGNOR'JO THE COLTS PATENT FIRE ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. v358,279,dated February 22, 1887.

Application liletl November S, 1586.

To all whom z't may concern,.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLTN F. lxons, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Magazine Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with accompanying drawings, and the letters o f reference marked thereon, to be afull, clear, and exact description of the saine, and which said drawings constitute part of Figure 1, asectional side view showing the parts in the closed position; Fig. 2, a sectional view of so much ot the arm as illustrates the locking-lever, slide, and hammer in the position of the breech-piece open; Fig. 3, a modication.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of magazine tire-arms in which the mechanism of the arm is operated by means of a handle arranged beneath the barrel to be moved longitudinally backward and forward, and with a slide extending therefrom into the receiver to engage the operative mechanism of the arm, and so that as the handle is moved rearward the breech-piece is opened and the hammer thrown to full-cock, `and on the lreturn the breech-piece is closed, the invention being an improvementon the arm for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 285.020,' we re granted to W'. H. Elliot, September 1S. 1883. In the said invention of Elliot a lever (called in the patent a feed-pawl) is arranged bcneath the slide, which extends from the handle, and hung upon a fulcrum,` one arm extending forward and turned upward at its forward end, soas to serve as a stop for the column of cartridgesin the magazine, under certain circumstances, to prevent the column from moving rearward. The other arm extends rearward, and is constructed with a shoulder or hook to engage a shoulder or stud on the hammer when the hammer is thrown to full-cock. In the operation of this lever, when the handle is in the extreme forward position the -forward end of the lever or feed-pawl is depressed and out of the path ofthe column of cartridges. The rear end at the same time is raised, so as to leave the hammer free to bc thrown forward Serial No. 213.274. (No model.)

against-the firing-pin; butas thc hammer and 5o the slide it carriesV move rearward the forward end of the said lever is permitted to rise and the rear end to descend'undcr the action of a spring, and so that as the ham mer approaches its ext-renie cocked position the shoulder or stud thereon will be engaged by thchooked end of said lever. At the same time the forward end of the said lever has been thrown upward to come in rear of the column of cartridgesin the magazine to prevent a rear movement of 6o that column. Then, as thchandle is returned, taking with it theslide, audjnst as thc breechpiece approaches its closed position, the slide strikes upon a cam-like surface near the forward end of the said lever and depresses that forward end of the lever, consequently raising the rear end and releasing t-he hammer, so that this lever serves the double purpose of a stop for the column of cartridges and as a lock to hold the hammer in its cocked position until 7o the breech-piece shall be fully closed.

A difcnlty arises in theusc of this lever, from the fact that the stud or shoulder ou the hammer passes to the rear of the extreme end of the lever in the action of the hammer; and, from thelfact that this shoulder or stud may so escape entirely from the lever, it sometimes occurs that in cooking the hammer by hand the rear end of the lever will interfere with the cocking movement of the hammer, or the 83 stud on the-hammer is liable to pass above the rear end of the lever, and thus interrupt the proper working of the parts. Again, in the patent of Elliot the slide and handle are free for movement without other obstruction than the natural friction of the parts-that is to say, no device is provided to secure the handle with its slide in the eirtremel forward or breechclosed position.; hence there is a liability of accidental partial rear movement of the han- 9o dle and its slide and consequent release of the breech-piece.

The object of my present invention is to overcome these difficulties, and provide a locking device to temporarily hold the slide with its handle in the extreme forward position; and it consists in constructing the before-mentioned lever with au extension from the hook or shoulderl rearward and above the stud or shoulder on the hammer, with which the hook engages, the said rear extension being of such an extent that the stud or shoulder on the ham- 5 mer cannot pass from beneath the said rear end of the lever, combined with an upward projection on the forward end of the lever, inclined upon its forward side, the said slide constructed with a recess upon its under side, with which the said projection on the lever may engage, and whereby the said engagement between the said lever and the said slide, under the action of the lever-spring, will serve to hold the slide and its handle forward in the closed position, yet yield to. the forcible rear movement of the handle and slide, and as more fully hereinafter described.

In Fig. 1 I show the magazine, barrel,breech piece, and its locking mechanism substantially the same .as in the Elliot patent, before referred to,but not necessary to be particularly described, as it constitutes no part of my present invention.

A represents the handle, which'is arranged forward of the receiver and slides parallel to the magazine in the usual manner for this class of arms. From the handle the bar orslide B extends rearward into the receiver, and so as toengage with the operative parts of the breech-piece in the usual manner.

C is the lever arranged below the slide B, and'hungupon afulcrum, a.. At the forward end the lever terminates in an upward projec-` tion, b, to serve as the dog for the feed, the same as in the Elliot patent. The lever extends to therear from the fulcrum, and-near its rear end is constructed with a shoulder or hook, d, as in the Elliot patent, which is adapted to engage a stud or shoulder, e, on the hammer when the hammer is in the cocked position, as seen in Fig. 2. From the shoulder or hook d the lever extends rearward to a point beyond the extreme rear position at which theshoulder e standswhen the hammer is' in the closed position, as seenin Fig. 1; hence itis impossible that the stud or shoul der' of the hammer can pass to the rear of the end of thelever C, so as by any possibility to interfere with the proper working of theparts, 5oA asin the Elliot patent. Again, the extension f permits that end of the lever, when free, to

come t'o a bearing. upon the stu'd xn'shoilder'` e and rest thereon, so that as the hammer' passes from the closed to the full-cocked posi- 55 tion it will support that end of the lever until it reaches the notch d. Then under the action of the1ever-spring D the rear end of the lever will be thrown downward to engage the shoulder or stud on the hammer, as seen in Fig. 2.

Near the forward end of the lever is an up ward projection, f, inclined rearward and upward upon its forward side, and preferably upward and forward upon its rear. side, and in the under side of the slide B and at a point corresponding to the upward projection, f,

when the breech-piece is in the extreme closed position, is a cavity, g, into which the projection f on the lever (l may enter under the action of the spring D, and so that as the slide moves forward, say, from the position seen in Fig. 2 it will pass over the projection f on the'lever until, in the extreme closed position, the cavity g in the under side of the lever presents itself to the projection f. 'lhen the projection enters that cavity and offers a resistance to the rear inovementof the handle and the slide B; but because of theincline of the forward side of the projection f the resistance is not so great as to materiali y interfere with thc forcible rear movement of the handle and slide, so that the handle and slide are held in the extreme forward or closed position so firmly as to prevent accidental rear movement, but not sufficiently to interfere with intentional or practical rear movement of the handle and slide.

Then the parts are in the 4closed position, as seen in Fig. 1, the slide B holds the forward end of the lever C so far downward that the extension of the rear end stands above or out of the path of the lstud`or shoulder c, as seen in Fig. 1; but after the slide starts in its rear movement it escapes from the projection f, as seen in Fig. 2, and so as to leave the forward end free torise to a higher point, and consequently permit a further depression at the rear end; hence as the hammerarrives at the full-cock position the lever is free todrop at its rear end, to bring the shoulder d into engagement with the stud e, as seen in Fig. 2, this engagement being substantially the sameas in the Elliot patent, and so that the hammer will be held in the cocked position until in the forward movement of the slide the lever will be again turned, so as to raise the shoulder d from engagement with the stud e.

The slide B is, slotted forward of the cavity g, to permit the projection b andthe forward end ofthe lever to work up through the slide, and preferably the rear end of the slot;that is, immediately forward of the cavity g-is' inclined downward and backward, to produce an easy cam-like action between the slide and the forward end of the lever in the final closing movement of the slide and handle.,

,While designed with special reference to magazine Vlire-arms, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the lever to interlock the hammer and the handle may be employed inV single breech-loaders, in which case the upward projection b atthe forward end will be omitted.

While tween the projection f and the slide by means `of a cavity, g, formed in the under side of the slide, that cavity. may be simply a shoulder or recess such as to presenta shoulder to the forward side ofthe projection f only, as seen in Fig. 3.

I claim- In a. fire-armin which the barrel opens intothe receiver at the rear, and in which the.

breech-piece is arranged in rear of the barrel,

I prefer to make the 'engagement be- IOO IIO

the hammer hung in the receiver iu rear of the breech-piece, and in which the breecbpieee is operated by e longitudiuallyq'iprocuting handle forward oi' the receiver, with u slide eonueotingsaid handle and the operativemechanism olf' the breech-piece, the combination therewith of a lever hung upon a ulcium in the e-eeiver below *die seid slide, one :1a-m of seid level." extending oieard beneath said slide, mi2 its forwzirf end Constructed with am mpv-fard projection', having its foi-vieni eur- ;Feee inclined upward md llmzlzfiril7 the Slide eons-rueed with el Shoulder eeiiespoml foiiwzwl eide of' wie ojeetien on 'i o lneeeii Die@ "l fion 

